Chelsea must come from behind against Middlesbrough to avoid Carabao Cup shock

The Blues were beaten 1-0 by the Championship side in the first leg two weeks ago and now have the task of turning things around.

Mauricio Pochettino's side have found some form in the Premier League but defeat to Boro has put them on the brink of a shock exit.

Michael Carrick will be delighted to be heading to Stamford Bridge ahead in the tie but his team face a tough task to secure a spot at Wembley.

Chelsea vs Middlesbrough: First in a decade?

Middlesbrough are hoping to become the first team from a lower division to knock out a Premier League side in a Carabao Cup semi-final since 2013.

Boasting a 1-0 lead, Boro travel to London hoping for a historic night.

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And they will be aiming to replicate Bradford City who knocked out Aston Villa at this stage over a decade ago.

Chelsea, of course, are out to prevent a shock elimination but the last top-flight team to lose both legs of a semi-final in this competition to lower-league opposition was in fact the Blues.

In the 1990/91 season, they were beaten in both legs by Sheffield Wednesday to be knocked out at the final hurdle.

That will encourage Middlesbrough, but in more recent years Stamford Bridge has become a fortress against lower league sides with Chelsea winning 15 of their last 16 ties.

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Middlesbrough have progressed from their last three EFL Cup semi-final ties, most recently against Arsenal in 2003-04 en route to winning the trophy. However, they've been eliminated from the competition both times when their semi-final second leg was away from home despite avoiding defeat in the first leg each time (vs Man City in 1975-76 and Manchester United in 1991-92).

Chelsea have progressed to the final on two of the last three occasions they've lost the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final tie, with the second leg coming at Stamford Bridge both times (v Arsenal in 1997-98 and Tottenham in 2018-19).

Chelsea vs Middlesbrough: Team news

Chelsea will be hoping that Christopher Nkunku is fit for the second leg after he made a return to training last week.

Reece James, Romeo Lavia, Marc Cucurella, Lesley Ugochukwu, Carney Chukwuameka and Wesley Fofana all remain out injured.

Ben Chilwell could feature from the off after making his return while Cesare Casadei has been recalled from Leicester and could play a part.

As for Middlesbrough, they have been dealt a double injury blow ahead of the game.

Jonny Howson and Isaiah Jones have both picked up knocks with the latter suffering an injury during a clash against Rotheram.

Carrick has confirmed Howson was injured during training.

Middlesbrough have won all six of their EFL Cup games this season. Only two teams have won more consecutively while consistently outside the top-flight - Bristol City between 1987 and 1989 (8), and QPR between 1966 and 1967 (9).

Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 21 home games against Middlesbrough in all competitions (W15 D6), since a 2-1 loss in the top-flight in March 1975. They've kept a clean sheet in their last nine against them at home, with Alen Boksic the last Boro player to score at Stamford Bridge in September 2001.

Chelsea vs Middlesbrough: What has been said?

Carrick has been speaking about how his squad are preparing for their huge game at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.

The Middlesbrough boss said: "The squad is feeling good.

"Preparation has been short but that's fine. We're in a rhythm of training and playing games. It's business as usual in many ways.

"Obviously, as a group, the players are looking forward to the game and it's a great challenge but a great one to embrace and take on."

Hayden Hackney scored Middlesbrough's winner in the first leg against Chelsea - the only player to score in both legs of an EFL Cup semi-final tie for the Boro is Paul Merson in 1997-98 against Liverpool.

All six of Chelsea's EFL Cup goals this season have been scored by different players - they last had more different goalscorers in a single campaign (excluding own goals) in 2017-18 (7).

Chelsea vs Middlesbrough: talkSPORT coverage

This Carabao Cup semi-final second leg will take place on Tuesday, January 23.

Kick-off at Stamford Bridge is scheduled for 8pm.

talkSPORT will have live coverage of the game presented by Adrian Durham.

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Commentary will come from Jim Proudfoot and former England captain Stuart Pearce.

talkSPORT.com will also be running a live blog of all the action.